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Meurtre par téléphone

Original title: Murder by Phone
  • 1982
  • Tous publics
  • 1h 35m
IMDb RATING
5.4/10
1K
YOUR RATING
Meurtre par téléphone (1982)
HorrorMysterySci-FiThriller

A disgruntled phone company employee develops a device whereby those answering a phone can be murdered, and it's up to Nat Bridger to stop the killer.A disgruntled phone company employee develops a device whereby those answering a phone can be murdered, and it's up to Nat Bridger to stop the killer.A disgruntled phone company employee develops a device whereby those answering a phone can be murdered, and it's up to Nat Bridger to stop the killer.

  • Director
    • Michael Anderson
  • Writers
    • Michael Butler
    • Dennis Shryack
    • John Kent Harrison
  • Stars
    • Richard Chamberlain
    • John Houseman
    • Sara Botsford
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.4/10
    1K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Michael Anderson
    • Writers
      • Michael Butler
      • Dennis Shryack
      • John Kent Harrison
    • Stars
      • Richard Chamberlain
      • John Houseman
      • Sara Botsford
    • 19User reviews
    • 21Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos11

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    Top cast41

    Edit
    Richard Chamberlain
    Richard Chamberlain
    • Nat Bridger
    John Houseman
    John Houseman
    • Stanley Markowitz
    Sara Botsford
    Sara Botsford
    • Ridley Taylor
    Robin Gammell
    Robin Gammell
    • Noah Clayton
    Gary Reineke
    Gary Reineke
    • Lt. Meara
    Barry Morse
    Barry Morse
    • Fred Waites
    Alan Scarfe
    Alan Scarfe
    • John Websole
    James B. Douglas
    • Jack Gilsdorf
    Ken Pogue
    Ken Pogue
    • Fil Thorner
    Neil Munro
    • Winters
    Jefferson Mappin
    Jefferson Mappin
    • Photographer
    Tom Butler
    Tom Butler
    • Detective Tamblyn
    Colin Fox
    Colin Fox
    • Dr. Alderman
    Luba Goy
    Luba Goy
    • Beth Freemantle
    Lenore Zann
    Lenore Zann
    • Connie Lawson
    Clare Coulter
    Clare Coulter
    • Bag Lady
    George R. Robertson
    George R. Robertson
    • George Lord
    Jo-Anne Hannah
    • Sandra Thorner
    • (as Joann Lang-Hannah)
    • Director
      • Michael Anderson
    • Writers
      • Michael Butler
      • Dennis Shryack
      • John Kent Harrison
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews19

    5.41K
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    Featured reviews

    6FieCrier

    thriller still pretty good in its cut form

    Much more of a gap between the invention of the telephone and this movie, and the invention of the television and the movie Murder By Television, for some reason.....

    I saw the cut version of this, which was still rated R surprisingly, despite there being no nudity, just a couple of not-too-bad cuss words, and some deaths that weren't too terribly horrific. This could hardly get anything worse than a PG-13 rating today. I'd be curious what was cut from the movie.

    Anyway, a young woman answers a phone ringing in a subway station. Strange sounds come from the phone, and she begins having a seizure of sorts, blood drips from her eyes, and then she is forcefully blown away from the phone, while the receiver ignites in flames.

    The young woman was a former student of Richard Chamberlain's character, an

    environmental science professor, I think. Her father asks him to investigate her death, which he was told was a heart attack. Chamberlain learns about the phone from a bag lady, and gets some help from a woman painting a mural at the phone company's headquarters. Meanwhile, other people keep dying the same way.

    One of the most amusing moments for me was when John Houseman's character drawled "I've earned it." Houseman had done some famous commercials for Smith-Barney saying "They earned money the old-fashioned way: they earned it" - with that same pronunciation. I don't know which came first, the commercials or this movie (I'd guess the former).
    8CooperCom

    Exciting thriller

    This movie is known under the title "Bells" in my country. Bells is a exciting and unusual thriller about a killer who kills people with the help of the phone (he sends some deadly sounds through the phone). The movie is made with skill and have great & convincing actors who really takes the job serious. The plot is good and makes you feel the tension in the film. Recommended

    I give it 8 out of 10
    BaronBl00d

    Did You Forget To Pay Your Phone Bill?

    Canadian horror film starring Richard Chamberlain as a professor out to prove a conspiracy exists in a huge phone company as they cover up a mad killer that uses high-pitch frequencies on the phone to kill people. The movie resembles Coma with its thriller-like atmosphere and its one person against the world protagonist. As thrillers go, the film is pretty enjoyable, although it is definitely short on logic. You really will need to suspend some disbelief here. Michael Anderson directs(quite a ways down from directing Around the World in Eighty Days if you ask me...which you didn't) with some polish and flair, using the materials he is given to their best. John Houseman is somewhat wasted in the film, but his verbal reparte with Chamberlain is quite amusing. Chamberlain is adequate in the lead. The special effects are...well, not too impressive. Some of the death scenes are over-acted and over-directed, and unintentionally amusing.
    7PeterMitchell-506-564364

    Hell's bells

    Alternatively known as Bells, here's an entertaining chiller with two gooder actors for a film that's still a good solid drama/thriller. Certainly something different here, we have a disgruntled nut who used to work for the phone company, taking people out at random, some he personally knows, by upping the voltage so high, their body melts, their ears explode, and are sent flying backwards whether on subways, or from high rise buildings. Richard Chamberlain, of all people, is a professor, who investigates the killings, when one of his best students, is a victim (the first one on the subway). While bedding architect (Sara Botsford- Rats) he teams up with a cop who he first bangs heads with, on the account of his no caring attitude, they try to flush out the killer, who's doing his business from a small electricity house, which is also his abode. John Houseman, an old lecturer and close friend of Chamberlain, has something to hide here, too, which I thought was a good shock point (pardon the expression). I did like the cop in this film, a Frederick Forest type guy, I found a hoot, if the whole film. The death scenes are classics, and we do question if we could really kill someone by upping the amps so high. How they set the killer up, is classic, as is the last call Richard Chamberlain takes, that he shouldn't of. On the whole, Bells is fun viewing for the horror/thriller viewer, though I don't think it will turn you off answering your next call.
    7Weirdling_Wolf

    'idiosyncratic Canadian shocker'

    Richard Chamberlin makes for an amiable hero in this idiosyncratic Canadian shocker. He plays Nat Bridger, an idealistic, ecologically aware lecturer who eventually discovers through diligent investigation, somewhat incredulously, that a nefarious individual has manufactured a monstrously effective device that turns the once prosaic phone into a conduit of agonizing death! Includes nice support from John Houseman as his crotchety mentor, whose amenable exterior may conceal ulterior motives. 'Bells' might seem to have an entirely implausible premise, but nonetheless manages to coalesce into an efficient, and highly entertaining, early 80s horror; which is lent considerable verisimilitude by Richard Chamberlin's earnest performance. 'Bells' comes highly recommended. 'The very next time the telephone rings, might it in reality be the tolling of your imminent death!'

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Known in the UK as "Bells".
    • Quotes

      [last lines]

      Nat Bridger: I'll call ya!

    • Crazy credits
      Pictures of telephones, the same ones seen throughout the film, are displayed throughout the concluding credits, which finish with a telephone ringing.
    • Alternate versions
      Murder by Phone is the title of the truncated US release. The original version was entitled Bells, and runs an additional 20 minutes.
    • Connections
      Featured in The Horror of It All (1983)

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    FAQ

    • How long is Murder by Phone?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 27, 1982 (Colombia)
    • Country of origin
      • Canada
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Bells
    • Filming locations
      • Cinespace Film Studios - 11030 Highway 27, Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada(Studio)
    • Production companies
      • Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC)
      • Famous Players
      • Coco Films I
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • CA$5,600,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 35 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono

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